dehydration

So, I am not sure what really happened but somehow I have lost an entire version of my draft post which I had written earlier 🙁 Anyways, I did try my best to recreate the post. It is of course not the first version but I hope it helps you!!

“If cravings were an indicator of nutritional deficiency, we’d all crave fruits and vegetables,” says Karen Ansel, MS, RD, CDN. “The fact that we all want high carb, high fat comfort foods, along with the research, is a pretty good indicator that cravings aren’t related to deficiencies. (Source)”

As I said in the title, the post is going to be all about cravings and why exactly do we get them? What is the science behind cravings? Are they the need of our body or our mind?

This entire journey of finding out what exactly are cravings was the result of my own tendency to crave sweets a few months back. I just wanted to eat sweets all the time. I either craved for ice creams at the middle of the night or the cakes and sweetmeats during the day after every meal.

And, curiously, I have never been a lover of sweets. I have a salt tooth not a sweet one. I, in fact, mix my sweets with snacks so as to balance out my palate. And, that made me concerned if I was getting diabetes or any other undesirable condition which was why I was constantly craving sweets.

I had a talk with my doctor as well at the time when I was getting treated for my acute deficiency of folic acid. He completely denied the assertion that cravings have anything to do with diabetes or pre-diabetes for that matter. Yes, there is something called pre-diabetes as well. Even I came to know of it recently.

Anyways, getting back to the topic, turns out that it is quite normal to crave any food which stabilises you emotionally. Hunger and emotions play a huge role in onset of cravings but there is a lot more involved in it. So, let us see what all can be the reason why you might crave various things at various times of the day.

Interestingly, I have to say that Mike also posted on the same topic a few days back! So, please go and have a look at the post on Nutrition Secrets. I do hope there is no plagiarizing comment made on me!!

Are you pregnant?

If yes, it is quite prevalent that pregnant women have the craziest cravings ever! So, moving on.

We all get hunger pangs at different times of day. But, the weirdest thing I read about these hunger pangs was that sometimes, our body needs water and sends us signals which we misinterpret as hunger pangs and gorge in on the food and lead to excess of calories.

In fact, the moment I was reading this piece of book (which I shall talk about in a week), I was feeling damn hungry. I try to make my dinner light and that day, I went for a long walk after my dinner. Consequently, I thought that my dinner is all digested and my body needs more fuel.

I was thinking on what snacks to binge on but I came across this piece of information. And, funnily enough, I recalled that I had not had water since an hour or two so I fortified myself with water and voila, no hunger pangs any more!! So, if you ever feel hungry, try drinking water. It may be as simple as that!

So, did you know about this little trick? If yes, then share your experience in comments below! And, if no, do try it next time you feel like eating something after having a complete meal!!